'It's just your imagination': Fantasy proneness and social anxiety

Abstract:

Self-imagery plays a significant role in the development and maintenance of social anxiety
(Hirsch, Clark and Mathews, 2006a). As a feared social event is anticipated, negative self-
images become activated and this increases the experience of anxiety (Hirsch & Holmes,
2007). These continue to be present during the social event and become reinforced by
negative interpretations of self-performance as well as by the responses of others (Hirsch,
Clark, Mathews & Williams, 2003). Mental imagery is a key characteristic of fantasy
proneness where the ability to generate vivid imagery forms part of imaginational ability
(Sanchez-Bernados & Avia, 2004). This study investigated the relationship between
fantasy proneness and social anxiety. As anticipation of a feared event plays a pivotal role
in social anxiety; the establishment of a positive relationship between fantasy proneness
(imaginational ability) and social anxiety may shed light on the role that imagination and
fantasy play in how a socially anxious person imagines a feared event, which then
contributes to the experience of social anxiety. The implications of a relationship between
these constructs may indicate the role which imaginational ability (fantasy proneness)
could play in underlying and maintaining social anxiety. Two self-report measures (the
Creative Experiences Questionnaire and the self-report version of the Liebowitz Social
Anxiety Scale) were administered to a sample of 50 non-clinical participants; 38 females
and 12 males, within the age range of 19 to 52 years old. Both scales have been found to
have adequate psychometric properties internationally (Fresco, Coles, Heimberg,
Liebowitz, Hami, Stein and Goetz, 2001; Merckelbach, Horselenberg & Muris, 2001).
Whilst no psychometric information on the use of these scales in the South African
context could be found, the results of this study will contribute to the use of these scales in
South Africa. The results of these scales were statistically correlated revealing that, within
the research design and methodology parameters of this study, a weak, but significant,
positive, relationship was found between the constructs of fantasy proneness and social
anxiety. The implication of this finding is that imagination, as a cognitive process, plays a
role in social anxiety. Clinically this suggests that whilst imaginative processes play a role
in underlying social anxiety, they can also be utilised adaptively in cognitively countering
social anxiety in a treatment context.